Blind Chinese dissident escapes from house arrest

Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese dissident who is visually impaired, has escaped from house arrest and released a video meant for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in which he has made three demands, including tackling corruption in the country, a media report said Friday.

Chen released the video for Wen after escaping from house arrest. He has sought that the premier investigate what Chen describes as the brutal beating up of his family members, reported BBC.

Chen was under house arrest since he was released from a four-year jail sentence in 2010, but he sneaked out of his home in Dongshigu town in Shandong province Sunday, said rights activists.

His video was posted on Boxun, a Chinese dissident news website hosted in the US.

The blind dissident has demanded that Wen investigate and prosecute local officials who beat up his family members, ensure the safety of his family, and deal with corruption in general in China and punish the guilty according to the law.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due to visit Beijing next week, has repeatedly called for his release.

"Now I can share with you Chen is now in the 100 percent safe location in Beijing. That's how much I can share with you," Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid based in Texas, US, told BBC.

Chen, who became blind in his childhood, is well known for exposing rights abuses under China's one-child policy.